1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of rodent control and, more particularly, to an electronic mouse trap for electrocuting and collecting a plurality of mice between trap service events.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic mouse traps of various designs have been used effectively to catch and dispatch mice, usually on a single kill cycle basis after which the trap must be manually reset. If the mouse escaped during the kill cycle, the killing opportunity can be lost and the trap is rendered inactive pending service by the user. One trap that is capable of automatically rearming in the event of mouse escape is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 6,836,999 (“the '999 patent”), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.
Even with automatic rearming so that, in the event of mouse escape, multiple killing opportunities are possible, once a mouse is killed the trap enters a standby mode and must be manually reset, and the dead mouse must be removed before the trap can reinitiate the killing cycle process. Therefore, only one mouse can be dispatched before trap servicing is required. As a result, the trap may sit in the standby mode for an extended period if trap status is not monitored regularly, resulting in an inefficiency in total mouse kills as compared with possible kill opportunities present in a target rich area.